Direction : Anil Kakde Writer : Nimesh Shah Cast : Bakul Thakkar, Manisha Vora and Surya Govle
HALF TICKET Review
It is rightly said that mirrors and relationships are absolutely fragile. And there is a very minor difference between the two. While the mirror breaks mistakenly, relationships fall apart because of misunderstanding.
In today's world where relationships fall like ninepins and mental illness is a cause of concern, we all need a generous dosage of deep understanding to strengthen our bond. Gujarati play HALF TICKET, directed by Anil Kakde and written by Nimesh Shah, shows us a mirror how relationships go for a toss with a simple misconception, thus enlightening us how our understanding should be, how human race foes, anger and selfishness, ruin our hunky dory world and how miscommunication creates distances between loved ones.
HALF TICKET is an emotional journey with roller coaster ride of laughter and love. It is a heart-touching story of twin brothers Raja (played Suryakant a.ka. Surya Govle) and Rahul (portrayed by Bakul Thakkar), bereaved of parents, showcasing their lovable, happy world and how they are complementary for each other. Rahul (the younger one) takes care of his specially-abled and slow learner elder brother Raja like a parent and simultaneously makes ends meet to run their day-to-day expenses. He feeds him, plays with him, does all the routine chores for him. Their bond is unbreakable until there's a paying guest Mamta (essayed by Manisha Vora) in the house. To make ends meet Rahul decides to rent one of their rooms to the paying guest Mamta, an effervescent, friendly, caring, single office going girl. Mamta and Raja, who have met before, are elated to see each other and share amazing bond. Rahul is too happy with the paying guest and the trio hit it off in a short span of time. The twist in the tale comes when misunderstanding and miscommunication erupt between the trio thus destroying their happy-go-lucky space in a spur of a moment.
The misconception leads to agony, anger, selfishness, ingratitude attitude, fear, delusion. The delusional mind creates more delusional thoughts thus turning the environment in despair. Now, how their topsy turvy world settles, how their strained relations get back to normalcy and how the right communication unknots their misunderstanding is very emotionally and interestingly handled by the makers which gives us also life-oriented lessons of clear communication, right intentions, the consequences of anger and decisions taken under the influence of agitated and turbulent mind.
While the play is loaded with enough lessons, it is also packed with laughter and fun. The dialogues and dialogue delivery have audiences in splits. Every scene sweeps off audiences' feet. The Scene 5 of the drama have audiences hooting and whistling for it. Despite being an eight-year-old play HALF TICKET dialogues are contemporary. It takes subtle digs on the current political scenario at the same time the dialogues are also blended with sarcasm. It also tickles our funny bones with chucklesome lines on man-woman relationship. The writer has pretty smartly conveyed the power of women with the dialogue (Aadmi ka sar jhukta hai paiso ki Devi Lakshmi Maa ke saamne, Gyaan Ki Devi Saraswati Maa ke saamne, Shakti ki Devi Durga Maa ke saamne aur Aadmiyon ke liye hai Baageshwar Baba ka Aashirwaad) that a man always has to obey woman. As good as its light-hearted it does have an implied message in it. And this is not just once there are many such instances when the writer subtly puts forth the message (illusion of money giving happiness, accepting the rare opportunity to do good act, the importance of family and partner in the life, what an ideal partner should be like, a selfish person can go to any extent for his/her happiness, a mentally disabled is far virtuous & wise than a full-grown so-called brainy human, etc) and the audiences too are seen applauding it.
Besides, what really enamours everyone is the chemistry between Rahul and Mamta, especially their dialogue delivery. Mamta's monologue style dialogues and the counter attack by Rahul takes our hearts away. The Gujarati slang ‘tamburoo', which Mamta uses in her conversation, becomes an instant hit with the audience. Rahul and Raja's intense affection for each other, their strong bond make us root for them. And we even become a part of their lovable world. While we are in awe of their bond, the scenes where Rahul has to go office leaving lonely disabled Raja chained for entire day, where Rahul thrashes Raja for some misunderstanding, where Rahul scolds innocent Raja are tear-jerking moments.
If that was not enough, the makers have added a cherry on the cake by including hit Bollywood songs, although only few lines from it, (like Saari Umar from 3 Idiots, Natu Natu from RRR, Ooh La La from The Dirty Picture, Pehla Nasha from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Apna Bana Le from Bhediya, Dholida from Gangubai Kathiawadi) to match with the situation. While Bollywood songs are used for fun banter, the two Gujarati songs especially their lyrics hit you hard and showcases the reality of the life and the world. The background score sets the tempo right. The lighting effect and the set-up is also apt.
There is never a dull moment in this emotional yet laugh-riot drama. But the climax part of the drama could have been worked upon. At one juncture it appears to end abruptly. Perhaps the makers could have added few more dialogues, made the scene all the more emotional with heart-wrenching lines & deeds, because it is the climax which turns an eye-opener as to how miscommunication & misunderstanding change our entire perspective. Perhaps, the writers could have enncashed on Raja's purity of thoughts, Mamta's repent & Rahul's realisation by showcasing it in a beautiful way. Further, as Raja exits the house, it should be Mamta and Rahul who should be stopping him to leave instead. Moreover, few points in the play defy our logic for instance how the mentally disabled Raja, who is not even confident about tying a two-end drawstring of his pants, is capable of eloping the house all alone and reaching his destination without anyone's help. If the makers could rethink/rework over these points than the play can turn flawless. Rest seems fine.
Talking about the performances of all the artists, it's not over the top on the contrary they are topnotch performances. Their performance keep you hooked to the show. A special mention and applaud for Surya Govle to enact mentally disabled person, to walk improperly, to express in an inconvenient way. Such performances need lot of home work and hard work and indeed that can be gauged with Surya's performance! Bakul, who is immensely talented and worked in different mediums and numerous plays, leaves an impact with his lines, expressions, emotions, action. In fact, he stands out in all the departments of acting. He totally carries off the play. Manisha is lovable. She once again proves that she is the ‘Mallika' of theatre industry as far as her performance is concerned. The beautiful talented actress performs with such an ease as if she is not enacting in a play, as if this is her real self. It appears she is our next-door person and we want just hear her conversation to the eternity.
In a nutshell, this drama is absolute joy and worth-watching as it will not only refresh your mind with right dosage of laughter but it will also give you life-lessons, relationship lessons, importance of communication and understanding.
Rachana Choksi has been a Bollywood writer for over 10 years and being a theatre lover she is now penning stories for Mumbai Theatre Guide.
